Dentists Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2013 for the murder of their daughter Aarushi.
Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were convicted of the twin murders of their teen daughter Aarushi and the family's domestic help Hemraj in 2013. They have filed an appeal against that verdict by a court in Uttar Pradesh, but hearings have yet to begin. The Talwars have always maintained they are innocent; the investigation against them, first by the police in Noida, where they lived, and then the CBI, was replete with lapses and holes, according to many legal experts. NDTV's Sunetra Choudhury interviewed the Talwars, dentists by profession, by exchanging letters and speaking to jail authorities.
Here is the transcript of the interview:NDTV: Do you know that a film has been made on your case? Do you think it will affect your case?
Talwars: We saw trailers of the film in jail and also read press reports about it. From what we can make out, they have tried to present both sides of the case. What they haven't focussed on is the malafide of the CBI.
NDTV: What are you hoping that this film, or the book that was written before achieves?
Talwars: All we think is why doesn't anyone take a stand? What is the reason they are all keeping quiet when it is so clear that a major injustice has been done, that something wrong has been going on. Nobody has the guts to say anything even though character assassination of a child has happened.
Aarushi was found with her throat slit and head injuries in her bed just days before she turned 14.
Is that what worries you the most?
Talwars: That is the only concern for both of us. This time in jail, we can deal with it, we see patients, it passes by and we are managing. What we can't deal with are the lies about our child. Everything (the case) is based upon insinuation by the CBI.
NDTV: Has the CBI been in touch with you since your conviction?
Talwars: No.
Investigators say nobody broke into the Talwars' home and it was an insider job.
What is the status of your appeal in the Allahabad High Court?
Talwars: We keep putting in applications for an early hearing but at the moment they are hearing appeals which go back to 1986, so it will take time.
NDTV: Can your lawyers help fast forward it?
Talwars: In the bail order, the court said we have a lot of influence. Where is the influence? Could we influence CBI? Who have we influenced? We may put in more applications but many holidays are coming up so it will take time.
The judge had accepted the CBI's theory that the Talwars killed Hemraj and Aarushi with a golf club after finding them in "an objectionable position".
Many people say including legal experts that your mistake was filing a protest petition - do you agree?
Talwars: I don't know why they say that. If CBI was filing a closure report on someone's child's murder, would they not object? I just asked them to further investigate - I didn't even say don't probe me. As a parent you cannot let it go, not until justice is done.
NDTV: They have written a book, now a movie, do you plan something to tell your own story?
Nupur Talwar: I started writing but then it was like I was reliving everything. It was too painful. So I have put it on hold for now.
NDTV: You have been sentenced to life, what keeps you going day to day?
Talwars: The fight for Aarushi. What they did to her, I want to fix that. The truth has to emerge and so the need to fight keeps us going. We know we are two small individuals, so who will listen to us but we will keep at it.
In his prison diary, Rajesh Talwar wrote, "If only I would have gotten up... I could not even save my dear Aaru."
Do you still have friends?
Talwars: We do have some. Surprisingly, our patients have stuck by us. They come and visit us as well. One came with his X-rays to show us, some ask why we can't treat them here. Patrick French is an old patient who stood by us, and he came to the jail also to visit us. He told us that media houses in Britain would have been shut down for the kind of reporting that Indian media did.
NDTV: How often do you meet?
Talwars: Officially we meet once a week but due to the clinic (Rajesh sees patients daily) we meet thrice a week. It is working very well since we came here and jail officials also bring their families to consult with us.
NDTV: Do you read?
Rajesh Talwar: I read everything - read all of Amitav Ghosh and Neel Mukherjee and Jhumpa Lahiri and some religious texts
Nupur Talwar: Read Gurcharan Das's
The Difficulty of Being Good.
NDTV: Do you still believe in God?
Talwars: Sometimes we don't but what else is there? Sai Baba said faith and patience are the only two things you need and we think that is really proved right.